


We Are Not The Same

by m2d2tumblr



Series: Superhuman [1]
Category: K-pop, NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Percy Jackson Fusion, And Worries, Drabble, Fluff, Gen, Inaccurate Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Prequel, he doesn’t even know why, kid!Mark, mark thinks a lot, to a new series hopefully
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:33:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23083276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/m2d2tumblr/pseuds/m2d2tumblr
Summary: Mark was normal. He had a normal family, with two parents and an older brother. He lived in a normal town in Vancouver, in a normal house and went to a normal school.Too bad it takes only a little while for him to start realizing maybe he’s not fully normal himself. He’s just not sure if that’s a good thing.
Series: Superhuman [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1659007
Kudos: 13





	We Are Not The Same

**Author's Note:**

> This story is a part of a series that I may or may not continue. I hope this is good enough and that you guys enjoy it. This was an idea I got from another pic I read that I don’t remember the name of anymore. It is un-beta’d and there may be mistakes, please let me know. If you wish to beta, let me know as well, that would be great!
> 
> Title from Regular by NCT 127
> 
> I hope you enjoy the story.

Mark was normal. He had a normal family, with two parents and an older brother. He lived in a normal town in Vancouver, in a normal house and went to a normal school. 

The first time he thought something about him might be different was when he was in 2nd grade and he couldn’t stop making mistakes in his homework and tests. Pages filled with red would come back to him, and the sharp feeling in shame every time he saw the low grade while all his friends showed off their A’s made him think maybe he was stupid. But he understood everything the teacher said, it just didn’t work when he tried to write it down. His explanation to his parents must have made some sense because not even a day later and he’s getting tested for Dyslexia. Apparently its normal for some kids to have trouble telling letters apart, and that reassurance, the word normal, is enough for Mark’s worldview to slot back in place. 

The second time he thinks he’s not like others is when in only two years later, he places in specialized music class for students that show s certain talent. His mom has been teaching him guitar ever since he could hold one, or at least attempt to. Apparently, her brother used to be a music teacher who loved the guitar. It had been his, passed down to his sister when he passed away in an accident. Mark loved it. He loved the feeling of the wood under his hands, and the different sounds it would make if he played just a little differently. But mostly he loved how happy it made his family when he played songs he had spent all week learning for them. So, Mark thought that it was ok to be a little different, for this at least. Besides, he wasn’t the only one in that class, his best friend Hina having switched with him. 

And so Mark spends grades 4, 5 and 6 enjoying his life with his friends and family. He joins the school basketball team meant only to encourage physical health and learns that he’s good at the sport, much to his own shock. Hina jokes that soon, there’s going to be nothing left that he won’t be good at. So he spends the school year between working on his dyslexia, learning as much about music as he can and enjoying basketball more than he ever expected to. The next year, his parents insist on putting him in taekwondo and fencing. He’s not sure why exactly fencing, but it’s interesting even if the saber feels a bit awkward in his hands. But Mark works hard at everything, because for all that he’s good at music and sports, he’s realized that he’s not willing to slack. He feels a responsibility every time someone compliments his skills, to not let them down or take their compliments for granted. His parents had always made him and his brother aware that while talent was important, nothing would come out of it unless you worked on it. He knows that if he hadn’t worked on all the exercises given to him for his dyslexia, his natural learning abilities would not have mattered. Still, Mark works hard and he excels and he thinks that at the end of the day he’s glad to have a normal life and a normal family and normal friends. He’s not sure why exactly it’s such a concern for him, be he’s glad he has nothing to worry about regardless. 

He’s 12 years old when his brother gets angry at him while on vacation at a lake 2 hours from their home. He doesn’t understand why his brother won’t believe him. It’s not like he’s a little kid anymore, he doesn’t have imaginary friends. There really was a person in the lake, she’d been really pretty and waved at him when he just stared at her. He’d been confused how she got there, since there was no boat and swimming in the lake was prohibited. But she was there and his brother didn’t believe him. The ensuing argument between the two of them is enough to catch their parents attention. And the look on his mother’s face when he yells that Peter won’t believe he saw a lady waving at him from the lake before she dived back in is enough to caution him that maybe there is something wrong with him after all. 

That night his parents sit him down in their rented cottage, and tell him they love him. It’s not something Mark thinks needs to be said so seriously. He knows his parents love him, they’ve always been supporting and loving in their own ways. His mom never failed to wish him and his brother good morning with a kiss on their cheeks. They always got their favourite foods made on all birthday’s that the family would spend together, picking one activity curtesy of the birthday boy to spend the day doing. She took time out of her day to sit with him while he practiced his guitar and singing, a light shining in her eyes he could never quite figure out. He thought she always looked proud and sad, but that didn’t make sense. 

His dad always helped him with his homework no matter how tired he was from work. He was the fundamental reason Mark never felt like he wasn’t good enough, providing not only praise but also feedback because he understood Marks need to prove himself at everything even at such a young age. He was also the reason Mark worked so hard, because his whole life, he’d seen his dad put his 100% in all the tasks he did, even if he didn’t always succeed. Even his brother showed how much he loved Mark, always showing him the new artists and rap songs that came out once he found that Mark was interested despite not liking them himself. 

So, Mark knew his parents loved him. He also realized that this sentence was said as a precursor to something that they thought would make him question that fact. Mark wasn’t sure what was worse, finding out he was adopted or that apparently Greek gods were real. Maybe it was that he thought his parents were playing a joke on him. But the teary eyed gaze of his mother told him a different story. Her brother, she said, had been a wonderful musician who loved teaching the art to students with a passion. And he’d caught the eye of the oldest of the muses herself. His passion for the art, along with his efforts to nurture it in others attracted her to him, and in turn him to her. They fell in love, and they had him. Apparently, gods and goddesses falling in love with humans and having kids wasn’t all that uncommon. Mark knew that the myths they read in class were almost always about the adventures of a half human and half god, but he’d thought it all just a way to explain nature and provide entertainment before science became a thing. 

“Almost all stories of Greek gods and goddesses in love with humans end in tragedy.” His mother had told him, and he believed her. Because he knew her brother had passed away on his birthday so many years ago, when he’d barely been conscious. Apparently, his father (and isn’t that weird, his dad is sitting right in front of him) had died protecting Mark when he was all of 2 years old. Because if Greek gods were real, then so were the monsters they fought in their stories. His mom had been his godmother in the records, and with only one parent listed she became his legal guardian. 

“She loved you, you know.” A caressing hand on his face, from the only mother he had ever known.  
“She’s a goddess and despite everything they’re not allowed to raise their mortal children, so she did what she could instead.”

A protection ward on Mark that prevented monsters from finding him, since despite being the son of a minor goddess, he’d been powerful enough at even two to attract monsters. But she was still just a minor goddess, a patron of the arts, and her protection had an expiration date. Around the time most demigods came into their power, all her wards would fade and he would be free to be discovered by any monster nearby.

Mark hadn’t been sure in that moment if he believed everything that was coming from his parents mouths, but he knew they weren’t faking the very real fear, love and so many more emotions in their eyes. Afterwards, when he’d been given a proper explanation and his world turned upside down, all Mark could do was sit on his bed and stare at the wall across it. He didn’t remember his real father, and he didn’t feel sad at not knowing him beyond what you may feel for a distant relative. Instead he felt the pain of losing his parents, as if instead of just telling him he’d been adopted, he’d learned that they were no longer there. 

It’s not until Peter craws into his bed with him, and holds him close that Mark reacts, and once he does he can’t stop himself from sobbing. It’s Peter who helps him untangle the ball of emotions in his chest, and its Peter who reassures him that no matter what they’re brothers and that means Mark is stuck with him for the rest of his life. So Mark goes to sleep that night, and in the coming days after, he understands that his family has not suddenly left him, but rather that along with his parents and brother, he’s gained new members who may not be there physically, but are there in the memories and conversations of his family. It’s not normal, but when he feels his mom’s morning kiss, and hears his dad’s feedback and plays the guitar left to him as a reminder of his other family, Mark thinks it ok.


End file.
